Abstract: Product development involves massive engineering changes. Engineering changes will prolong the time of product development and increase product cost more or less. The ability to manage engineering changes efficiently reflects the agility of an enterprise. Up to date there is a lack of effective methods to analyze and evaluate the impacts of the engineering change owing to the complexity of change propagation. Based on design structure matrix, an analytical model is set up, and the concrete method for analyzing direct and indirect engineering change impacts is proposed. Considering the probability and risk of engineering change, a mathematical model is presented to predict the comprehensive impact of engineering change. A motorcycle engine case study validates the feasibility of the proposed model.

Key words: Change propagation, Design structure matrix, Engineering change, Engineering change impacts